Commissioners questioned the City of Miami’s spending habits and its chronically underfunded Solid Waste budget last week during the first of two public hearings on the city’s proposed $3.6 billion budget.
The City of Miami’s first budget hearing last week set the stage for what’s to come later this month, spotlighting two issues that may become flash points when the City Commission takes a final vote on the city’s proposed $3.6 billion budget.
Miami District 3 Commissioner Rolando Escalona asked the city’s budget director to compare the City of Miami to other major cities in Florida, including Tampa.
With a preliminary report in hand, Escalona questioned the city’s spending habits – especially the high cost of salaries and benefits for the city’s 4,883 employees.
“How do we explain to our residents that for 77,000 more residents (in Miami compared to Tampa) we are spending $515 more million dollars?” Escalona asked.
“I do believe spending 76% on salaries and benefits, I believe that is a lot, and if we continue going in this direction, I believe the number will increase, and we cannot let that happen,” he said.
Escalona asked for more data – and a deeper discussion – when the commission meets on Sept. 24 to finalize the budget.
Miami District 1 Commissioner Miguel Gabela in turn highlighted the city’s solid waste dilemma: the current $380 trash fee that Miami households pay annually only covers approximately 60% of the city’s solid waste budget.
If the fee remains flat, as proposed, the city will need to pull $24 to $25 million next year from the city’s general fund to balance the Solid Waste Department’s $62 million, city budget officials said.
“I don’t want to be an alarmist (but) we have been subsidizing the solid waste situation for now, I understand, 16 years, because prior commissioners and administrations did not want to take the heat politically,” Gabela said.
Two years ago, the City Commission considered raising the solid waste fee to $440 – a 16% increase – but kept the fee flat instead. The city has not raised its solid waste fee for 16 years.
Read more: Miami’s Solid Waste Fee Capped at $380
Last week’s budget hearing lasted less than an hour and was sparsely attended. Only eight residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.
But this year’s budget debate – an annual exercise at City Hall – seems especially consequential, at a time when the city wants voters to approve $450 million in additional borrowing to fund new police and fire facilities, and the governor wants to cut property taxes statewide. Both issues will be decided by voters in November.
The statewide property tax measure – Amendment 3 on the ballot – would also limit the city’s ability to use property tax revenue to balance its solid waste budget.
“This is what I’m concerned about,” Gabela said. “Because then, that means we cannot subsidize the trash situation any longer. That means we would have to raise the fee.”
Here are a few numbers, plucked from the city’s own budget summary, to keep in mind ahead of the second and final budget hearing on Thursday Sept. 24.
In the last five years, Miami’s population grew 11%, but government spending increased 58%. The City of Miami now spends $3,471 for each of its 489,812 residents. Five years ago, the city spent $2,430 per resident.
The city-to-city comparison that budget officials prepared for Escalona also underscores the high cost of government in Miami.
The chart shows Miami with a population of 489,812 residents, a total general fund budget of $1.224 billion, and $933 million in salary and benefit expenses (76.2%).
By comparison, Tampa, with 412,684 residents, has a general fund budget of $708 million, and $538 million in salary and benefit expenses (76%).
Orlando, with 340,681 residents, has a budget of $739 million, and $443 million in salary and benefit expenses (59.9%).
“So, how do we explain to our residents?” Escalona asked. “This may be a bigger issue to discuss in the second hearing.”
For a deeper dive, read the Spotlight’s three-part series on the City of Miami’s budget:
Read more: Miami’s Billion-Dollar Boom, Part 1: Where Did All the Money Go?
Read more: Miami’s Billion-Dollar Boom, Part 2: The Rising Cost of Public Safety
Read more: Miami’s Billion-Dollar Boom, Part 3: City Hall’s Growing Payroll
